ot many kids can say that
their water polo coach
is a four-time Olympic
medalist. But at Menlo Park’s
Belle Haven Pool, members of
the new girls’ water polo teams
can.
Since February, gold-medal
winner Brenda Villa has been
head of acquatic outreach for
Menlo Swim and Sport, which
runs swimming programs at
Menlo Park’s two community
pools, Belle Haven and Burgess.
Now, she’s also head of the Mavericks Youth Water Polo program.

N

‘Having Brenda Villa
coaching water polo
at Belle Haven is the
same as having
Michael Jordan
coaching basketball
at Belle Haven.’
TIM SHEEPER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
MENLO SWIM AND SPORT

Her success in the realm of
women’s water polo is essentially
unmatched. She attended Stanford University on a water polo
scholarship, and since graduating she’s won 15 gold medals in
international competitions from
the Pan American Games to the
Water Polo World Championships to the Olympics.
“Having Brenda Villa coaching
water polo at Belle Haven is the
same as having Michael Jordan
coaching basketball at Belle
Haven,” says Tim Sheeper, executive director and head coach at
Menlo Swim and Sport.”
After captaining the women’s
water polo team to Olympic gold
in London last year, Villa retired
from competitive play to focus
on her outreach work in communities like Belle Haven.
She spoke with Belle Haven
students about the importance
of learning to swim and about
her passion for water polo. In
March, she gave a water polo
demonstration to students from
Beechwood School and Belle
Haven Elementary School, using
Belle Haven Pool.
Her passion for inspiring
students to get involved with
aquatic sports comes from her
own childhood. Her parents

Olympic

outreach

Olympic gold-medal winner is drawing Belle Haven
girls and families into aquatic sports
emigrated from Mexico, and
Villa was raised in Commerce,
California, a town in southeast
Los Angeles County.
“I grew up in an area kind of
like (Belle Haven),” she says. Her
town sponsored swim teams
and water polo teams, and
“that’s what got me to Stanford
and to four Olympic games.”
From first-hand experience,
she says, she has seen the positive influence that team sports
can have on girls. “I am using
my personal life experience to
connect with the girls.”
In addition to encouraging
more kids to participate in
aquatic programs, Villa has
established water polo teams for
U12 and U14 girls at Belle Haven
Pool. The two teams practice
together three days a week.
When they began practicing
in April, Villa’s teams were an

extension of the Menlo Mavericks Youth Water Polo program
that already existed at Burgess
Pool, and comprised mostly girls

from the two elementary schools
who had attended Villa’s demonstration in March.
But in early October, Menlo
Swim and Sport split the coed
Menlo Mavericks Youth Water
Polo team that practiced at Burgess Pool into a girls’ group and
a boys’ group. Now, all of the
Menlo Mavericks’ girls practice
at Belle Haven Pool, while the
boys remain at Burgess.
Having merged the Burgess
and Belle Haven girls teams,
Menlo Swim and Sport hopes
to grow the youth water polo
program by taking advantage
of Belle Haven Pool. “We have
more space here,” says Villa.
“Hopefully, at some point, we
can have all Mavericks water
polo here.”
Parents and players alike have
reacted well to this change. One
mother attributes her daughter’s

renewed enthusiasm for water
polo to the move to Belle Haven
and the chance to play under
Brenda Villa.
“Brenda is such a good example,” says the mother, who notes
that her family lives very close
to Burgess Pool, but it’s worth
the drive through late-afternoon traffic to get her daughter
to practices she’s genuinely
excited about.
During practice, Villa paces
along the side of the pool, shouting instructions, encouraging
the girls by name, and coaching
the teams through warm-ups,
drills and scrimmages.
Sometimes she stops and
stands perfectly balanced with
her feet hanging over the edge
of the pool, getting as close to
the water as possible without
falling in.
One mother, a resident of East
Palo Alto whose twins are on the
team, remembers the effect of
Villa’s demonstration in March.
“The girls came home, and they
were so excited about Brenda.”
She laughs, noting that she
hadn’t heard of Villa before. “We
said, who’s Brenda? And looked
her up online and ... wow.”
Now that her girls have been
practicing with the team for
months, she says Villa is “a really
good example for my girls” and
a reminder that “we all need to
keep pushing ourselves.”
She’s noticed that her daughters are now determined to finish their homework as soon as
they come home from school, so
that they can be ready for water
polo practices.
Another mother, a member
of the Belle Haven community,
attempts to put Villa’s work into
context. “We’ve never had anything like this,” she says. “I’ve
been in the community around
35 years, so it’s exciting to see
something different. My daughter couldn’t even swim a length
when she started, and now. ...”
She gestures at the girls in the
water, each holding a water polo
ball above her head and treading
water as Villa counts down the
last few seconds of the drill on
the poolside clock. “I can’t tear
her away from it,” she says.
Recently, the water polo program at Belle Haven partnered
with Beyond Barriers Athletic
Foundation to subsidize the
monthly team fees for girls from
low-income families, as part of
See OLYMPIC OUTREACH, page 23

November 20, 2013 N TheAlmanacOnline.com N The Almanac N 21

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C O V E R

S T O R Y

Water polo coach Brenda Villa puts a cap on a student prior to warmup at Belle Haven Pool.

Aaliyah Lax prepares to pass passing during a scrimmage at Belle Haven Pool.

OLYMPIC OUTREACH

everyone gets excited on game day.
At the games, she says, chuckling: “I
have to tell (the parents), you know, you
Villa’s vision of making aquatic sports can’t stand behind the goal, cheering.
accessible to all kids in Belle Haven and Because a lot of them, they don’t know
beyond. “I can’t pay for two girls to play the rules; it’s just exciting to see that their
water polo,” says the mother who hadn’t girls can do this.”
heard of Villa before March. “Brenda’s
It’s also worth emphasizing that the
helping me with one of the twins.”
teams Villa currently coaches are girls’
Despite the success that Villa’s teams teams. While she is adamant that her
have already had, there are more hur- long-term goal is to create opportunidles to overcome. Transportation, for ties for all local youth, she notes that her
instance.
focus on creating opportunities for girls
“Transportation is usually a huge obsta- is intentional.
cle, especially in households where both
“I believe girls do not always get the
parents work and child care is not easily fair share of opportunities in sports,” she
attainable,” Villa says. “ It takes a village to says.
help make everything work.”
One mother expresses her appreciation
Her outreach work has inspired parents of Villa’s attention to this issue as she
to get involved.
holds up a towel
“The beauty of
for her shiverhaving the local
ing daughter at
community
the end of pracjoin local teams
tice. “It’s nice,
is that half the
because now girls
parents can
can have a sport
walk their kids
to play, not just
to practice,”
boys.”
Villa says.
Having dried
Villa rememoff and wrapped
bers the teams’
herself up against
early
days,
the chilly breeze,
when almost
her daughter
every parent on Stacy Abonce heads up freestyle with the ball
chimes in: “I
the team would during practice at Belle Haven Pool.
like water polo
crowd the pool
because I like to
deck for full
swim and be in
practices, eager to ensure that their girls the water.” With a mischievous smile she
were comfortable and happy in the water. adds, “I also like to compete.”
Now, though, fewer parents stay for the
Going forward, Villa hopes to expand
whole practice. “It’s like they trust me the water polo program she’s started at
more,” Villa says.
Belle Haven, so that the girls she coaches
But, she says, parents are still just as can have the opportunity to play for
invested in the teams as they have been their high school teams and continue to
from the start. The teams have had only advance in the sport. For now, the teams
a few scrimmages so far, but Villa says are still in what Villa terms a “developcontinued from page 21

Yenifer Alas puts on her water polo cap before scrimmage at Belle Haven Pool.

mental league,” and practices aren’t too
grueling. But, the practice schedule is up
to three days a week from two, and Villa’s
booming and forceful coaching voice lets
everyone know that she means business.
“I like Brenda,” one player confides.
“She’s really nice. But she also gives you
a lot more practice, like she teaches you a
lot more, than before (when we played at
Burgess).”
Villa’s aspirations for Belle Haven
Pool are quickly converging with reality.
Menlo Swim and Sport recently finalized
a partnership that builds on its existing
relationship with the Beyond Barriers
Athletic Foundation and also involves
Facebook and the city of Menlo Park.
Together, the four entities will be able to
keep Belle Haven Pool open year-round,

rather than just during the summer. The
hope is that extended hours will facilitate
the transformation of the pool from an
underused facility to a fixture of the Belle
Haven community.
It’s difficult to measure the impact that
an athlete as decorated and as passionate
as Brenda Villa can have on a community. One team parent put it very simply:
“She’s an example for the community, for
everybody. She shows us that we can do
it. ... No excuses.”
A

For more information
Visit bellehavenpool.com for more information on
Belle Haven Pool and its programs.

About the cover
Photo by Michelle Le

November 20, 2013 N TheAlmanacOnline.com N The Almanac N 23

C O M M U N I T Y

Menlo Pres holds Global Gift Fair

Woodside Priory
stages ‘Macbeth’
Woodside Priory School in
Portola Valley is staging Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” in a style
that is “a homage to the greatest
SciFi films and TV shows,” says
theater teacher and director

A volunteer arranges a display of artisan-made wares for the Menlo
Park Presbyterian Church’s Global Gift Fair.
N AROUND TOWN

John Sugden.
Light-swords, aliens, futuristic robots and starships are
designed to make the play accessible to new audience members,
but Shakespeare’s language will
be there in its entirely, and the
focus will be on the characters
and “driving heart of the play,”
Mr. Sugden says.

TOWN OF WOODSIDE
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
PLANNING COMMISSION
For Unexpired Term Ending in February 2014

The Planning Commission participates in the
administration of the planning laws and policies
of the Town. It is responsible for recommending
to the Town Council ordinances and resolutions
necessary to implement the General Plan and
adopted development policy. The Commission also
conducts necessary public hearings to administer
the planning laws and policies of the Town and
acts upon applications for zoning amendments,
conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions,
and other related functions as may be assigned by
the Council.
The Planning Commission meets on the ﬁrst and
third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Interested residents may request information and
applications Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.12 noon and 1-5:00 p.m. at the Town Clerk’s
Ofﬁce, Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Road, on the
Town’s web site at www.woodsidetown.org, What’s
New, or by telephoning (650) 851-6790. Deadline
for applications is Tuesday, December 3, 2013,
5:00 p.m.

Performances will be at 7 p.m.
Nov. 21-23, and 2 p.m. Nov. 24
at the school’s Rothrock Performance Hall, 302 Portola Road in
Portola Valley.
Tickets are $5 for students and
$15 for adults and can be bought
at the door or online.
Go to priory.ticketleap.com/
macbeth.

‘Nutcracker’
The Peninsula Youth Ballet
will present its annual production of “Nutcracker” Nov.
30-Dec. 8 at the recently refurbished San Mateo Performing
Arts Center.
The choreographer is Akayo
Takahashi. Tickets range from
$45 to $75. Clara’s Tea Party is
$10 per person.
Visit www.pyb.org or call 800595-4849 for times and ticket
information.

Shelter supply drive
Project WeHope, an emergency shelter covering the coldest
six months of the year, is holding a supply drive for key shelter
needs, such as blankets, hand
towels, bath towels, sheets, robes
and coats, in time for the shelter
opening and annual Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
An open house will be held that
day at 4:30 p.m. with dinner at
6 p.m.
Donations may be dropped off
at the shelter office, 1854 Bay
Road in East Palo Alto.

CatWorks
Peninsula CatWorks will have
cats and kittens looking for a
home at the Pet Place in Menlo
Park on Saturday, Nov. 23, from
noon to 3 p.m.
Visitors are invited to have a hot
cup of spiced cider. Food donations will be accepted all month
for the animal shelters. The Pet
Place is at 777 Santa Cruz Ave.

Artisans from more than 13
developing countries will be
represented at the Global Gift
Fair at Menlo Park Presbyterian
Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave. in
Menlo Park, on Saturday and
Sunday, Nov. 23 and 24. Hours
are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The fair will offer handcrafted
textiles, ceramics, jewelry, and
home and fashion products.
Each product is made by an
individual striving to break the
cycle of poverty through their
own handiwork and creativity, says church spokesperson
Monica Brandt.
“The fair is a great way to shop
with a purpose,” says Bennie
Ingraham, mission director at
the church.
One hundred percent of the
proceeds are reinvested with the
artisans, Ms. Brandt says.
Last year, Global Gift Fair sales
totaled more than $128,000.